"Blogger Arrested for Spreading Conspiracy Theories About Major Disasters, Claiming 'It's All Fabricated'"

A man in his 60s has been arrested for posting hundreds of pieces of false information on his blog, including claims that major disasters such as the Sewol Ferry disaster and the Itaewon crowd crush were fabricated using computer graphics (CG).

The National Office of Investigation of the National Police Agency announced on the 23rd that it had arrested a man in his 60s, referred to as Mr. A, on charges including defamation of the deceased and insulting remarks.

On the eve of the 12th anniversary of the Sewol Ferry disaster this April, mourners are paying their respects at the citizen memorial altar set up at the 5·18 Democracy Plaza in Dong-gu, Gwangju. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the police, from 2022 to last year, Mr. A posted 122 items of false information on his personal blog about the Sewol Ferry disaster, the Itaewon crowd crush, and the passenger aircraft disaster at Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do. He is accused of denying the legitimacy of these disasters, spreading claims that they were fabricated, and defaming or insulting victims and their bereaved families.

Mr. A posted articles claiming that rescue scenes at the site of the Itaewon tragedy were pre-recorded or manipulated, and that the Sewol Ferry and airliner disasters were staged. In particular, he repeatedly questioned the identity of bereaved families with statements like "The bereaved families are fake" and "The disaster was created with CG."

This arrest marks the fourth such case since the launch of the Second Harm Crime Investigation Division of the National Police Agency. The police determined that the seriousness of the crime is heightened, as the suspect not only targeted one specific disaster but also repeatedly created and disseminated false and defamatory content across multiple incidents. Authorities have stressed the need for strict action, given the risk that such false information, if reproduced and spread online, could cause further harm.

Park Woo-hyun, Director of Cyber Investigation at the National Police Agency, stated, "Repeatedly spreading unverified claims or distorting the truth about national tragedies targeting victims and their bereaved families constitutes serious secondary harm, damaging the honor of the victims and inflicting further suffering on their families. We will track down those who deliberately and repeatedly distribute false information or insult and slander others, and hold them strictly accountable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.